Container supporting apparatus in the container ship

ABSTRACT

Container supporting apparatus in the container ship having container supporting members at middle stage in the container hold, the supporting members being adapted to be automatically projected into the container cell and retracted therefrom by sensing containers above the supporting members and beneath them.

United States Patent Tabuchi et al.

[451 June 13, 1972 [54] CONTAINER SUPPORTING APPARATUS IN THE CONTAINERSHIP [72] Inventors: Ichiro Tabuchi, Chiba; Akira Iwami; YasuhiroHarita, both of Tokyo; Toshlaki Yamamoto, Kanagawa, all of Japan [73]Assignee: Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Co.

Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Sept. 28, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 76,024

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 15, 1969 Japan ..44/82354[52] U.S.Cl. ..214/10.5 R,214/l5 R [51] Int. Cl ..B65g 1/20 [58]FieldofSearch ..2l4/10.5 R, l4, 15 R; 114/72 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,133 4/1954 stlund ..2l4/10.5 R 3,231,103H1966 Tantlinger ..214/l0.5 R

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Frank E. WernerAttorney-Howson and Howson ABSTRACT Container supporting apparatus inthe container ship having container supporting members at middle stagein the container hold, the supporting members being adapted to beautomatically projected into the container cell and retracted therefromby sensing containers above the supporting members and beneath them.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Patented June 13, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet}CONTAINER SUPPORTING APPARATUS IN THE CONTAINER SHIP The presentinvention relates to a container supporting apparatus in the containership which supports containers at middle stage in the container hold.

The container ship is provided with container guides located in thecontainer hold, the guides forming the four corners of each of a seriesof container cells into which containers can be loaded and stacked-insuperimposed relation. In such a container hold, it is not permitted tostack more than six containers in each cell, since the bottom containercan not support more than five containers thereon. Accordingly, therehave been provided apparatus for supporting containers above the sixsuperimposed containers in order to load more than six containers in thecontainer hold. Such apparatus have movable supporting members forcontainer and the supporting members are adapted to be projected intothe container cell or retracted therefrom by manually operating thecontrol device when loading or unloading.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which isautomatically operated.

The apparatus in accordance with the present invention is characterizedby devices for sensing the containers above the supporting members andbeneath them, the supporting members being adapted to be automaticallyprojected or retracted by sensing containers.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now to be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention asviewed from inside of the container hold;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line B-B of FIG. I; and

FIGS. 4a to 4f are diagramatical illustration showing operations of theapparatus in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3,container guides 2 at the four corners of the container 1 to be loadedare secured to pillars 4 by placing spacers 4a. Above the sixthcontainer 1a, supporting plates 3 are secured to the pillars 4, andhence the container guides 2, the guides being aligned with out offportions of the supporting plates. Movable container supporting members6 and 6a to support upper containers are rotatably provided on thesupporting plates 3 and being symmetrically arranged at oppositecorners. More specifically each of the supporting members has a shaft 7which is pivotally mounted on the supporting plate 3 and a supportingblock 3a fixed on the supporting plate. A lever 8 secured to the shaft 7at one corner has an upwardly extended rod 10, and a lever 8a secured tothe other shaft 7 has a rod 10a longer than the rod 10. The rods areconnected by springs 13 to pins 12 fixed to actuating shafts 11 and 11arespectively. Each actuating shaft is slidably supported by brackets 14,extending over the width of container hold. The actuating shaft 11a isconnected to a piston rod 16 of a hydraulic cylinder and also connectedto the actuating shaft 11 by a connecting link 18 pivoted by a pin 17.

A pair of vertically arranged stoppers 21 and 21a are slidably supportedby brackets 22 in such a manner that they abut on the back side of therespective supporting members 6 and 6a when they are projected into thecontainer cell as shown in FIG. 3 and abut on a shoulder as shown bydotted line when the supporting member is retracted. Each stopper isconnected to a sensing lever 24 or 24a by a link 23 and the sensinglever 24 being pivoted by a pin 29. Each sensing lever is adapted to beprojected horizontally into the container cell by springs 25 providedbetween projections 19 and the one bracket 22.

As shown in FIG. 3, the supporting member 6 in the projected position issupported by a bracket 26 secured to the pi]- lar 4 through the blockand is held in the position by the stoppers 21 and 27. While in theretracted position, the supporting member 6 is supported by thesupporting plate 3 and held in the position by stoppers 21 and 28.

In loading of the container, the hydraulic cylinder 15 is operated tomove the rod 16 from position X to position Y in FIG. 1. The movement ofthe rod 16 causes the actuating shafts 11 and 11a to slide in directionscounter to each other, and hence the pins 12 are moved from the positionX to the position Y in FIG. 3. Thus the supporting members 6 and 6a arepulled by the springs 13 in the direction to the projecting position.However the supporting members can not be rotated because of thestoppers 21 and 21a.

From FIGS. 4a and 4b it will be seen that the sensing levers 24 and 24aare actuated by the container I loaded in the container cell. Thesensing levers 24 and 24a are positioned apart a distance larger thanthe height of the container, so that the sensing levers are not actuatedat the same time by one container. Thus the supporting members 6 and 6aare always held in the retracted position by either of the stoppers 21and 21a. In the condition that the sixth container 1a has been loaded inthe container cell as shown in FIG. 4b, the lower sensing levers 24a arekept in the actuated position by the sixth container. As shown in FIG.4c, when the seventh container actuates the sensing levers 24, thesupporting members 6 and 6a are released from the stoppers 21 and 21a.Thus the supporting members are projected into the container cell by thesprings 13, so that the seventh container is supported by the projectedsupporting member as seen from FIG. 4d.

In unloading, the rod 16 is moved from position Y to position X byoperating the hydraulic cylinder 15, which in turn the pins 12 are movedto position X. Thus the springs 13 urge the supporting members 6 and 6ato rotate to the retracted position. However the supporting members 6and 6a can not be rotated by the weight of the containers loadedthereon. When the seventh container is unloaded, the supporting memberrotates to the retracted position. Thus the lower containers than theseventh container can be unloaded without obstruction of the supportingmembers.

It should be understood that limit switches or photoelectric tubes tosense the containers may be provided in stead of the aforementionedsensing lever. In this case, the apparatus is so constructed thatsupporting members are projected only when the both upper and lowerswitches or photoelectric tubes are actuated by the containers above thesupporting members and beneath them.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the present inventionprovides novel apparatus which can efficiently perform the loading andunloading works, because the supporting members are automaticallyprojected and retracted.

We claim:

1. Container supporting apparatus in a container ship comprisingsupporting members adapted to be projected into the container cell tosupport the container at a middle stage in the container cell, two setsof sensing means for sensing stacked containers situated above thesupporting members and beneath them, and actuating means adapted to movethe supporting members to the projected position when the two sets ofsensing means are activated by the containers at the same time and tothe retracted position when the container on the supporting members israised.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said actuating means includesspring means operable to bias said supporting members toward saidprojected position during loading of the containers and to bias saidsupporting members toward said retracted position during unloading ofthe containers, and stop means operable when operative to restrain saidsupporting members against movement under the influence of said springmeans, said stop means being connected to said sensing means to berendered inoperative when the two sets of sensing means are activated bythe containers at the same time during loadmg.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said two sets of sensing meansare vertically spaced apart a distance greater than the height of thecontainer so as to avoid activation of both sets at the same time by thesame container.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said sensing means compriselevers pivoted about horizontal axes for displacement from a normalhorizontal position intercepting the path of movement of the containersin the cell into both upwardly and downwardly displaced positions out ofthe path of movement of the containers whereby said lever is displacedfrom its normal position by either upward or downward displacement ofthe containers.

1. Container supporting apparatus in a container ship comprisingsupporting memBers adapted to be projected into the container cell tosupport the container at a middle stage in the container cell, two setsof sensing means for sensing stacked containers situated above thesupporting members and beneath them, and actuating means adapted to movethe supporting members to the projected position when the two sets ofsensing means are activated by the containers at the same time and tothe retracted position when the container on the supporting members israised.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said actuating meansincludes spring means operable to bias said supporting members towardsaid projected position during loading of the containers and to biassaid supporting members toward said retracted position during unloadingof the containers, and stop means operable when operative to restrainsaid supporting members against movement under the influence of saidspring means, said stop means being connected to said sensing means tobe rendered inoperative when the two sets of sensing means are activatedby the containers at the same time during loading.
 3. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said two sets of sensing means arevertically spaced apart a distance greater than the height of thecontainer so as to avoid activation of both sets at the same time by thesame container.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein saidsupporting members are pivotally mounted for rotation on vertical axesso as to be displaced within a horizontal plane, said actuating meanscomprising a spring attached to each supporting member at one end andattached to a movable element at the other end, said element beingpositioned during loading to cause said spring to bias said supportingmember to the projected position, and said element being positionedduring unloading to bias the supporting member toward the retractedposition.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said sensing meanscomprise levers pivoted about horizontal axes for displacement from anormal horizontal position intercepting the path of movement of thecontainers in the cell into both upwardly and downwardly displacedpositions out of the path of movement of the containers whereby saidlever is displaced from its normal position by either upward or downwarddisplacement of the containers.